The Heels Are Really Clicking

O'Koren's Jersey City background has forced him to make other adjustments. "Hush puppies?" he exclaimed in a school cafeteria line one day. "I thought hush puppies were something you wore on your feet."

Despite his ignorance of Southern cuisine he has fit in well enough on the court to shoot a team-leading 58% from the field, highlighted by an 18-for-21 performance in Oregon. And O'Koren has also learned what is at stake in his first college season. "It's funny," he says, "but a year ago I was hoping to win the county and now it's the country."

If Carolina takes the national title, it will be because of performances as well balanced as the Flying Wallendas'. All five starters are scoring in double figures and shooting at least 55% from the floor and 71% from the foul line. And led by the spirited Ford ("Phil Cadillac" one coach has called him) the Tar Heels have almost twice as many assists and steals as their flustered opponents.

Each of the starters is capable of a big scoring night, but in Smith's well-ordered system "nobody is selfish enough to try." While restraining individual skills, the emphasis on team play does foster brotherhood. The players believe in each other so much that most of them include a current or former teammate among their list of "most-admired sports stars." Even more brotherly, perhaps, is the enthusiastic support the starters give their substitutes.

A lack of quality reserve strength could be a roadblock on the way to Atlanta, especially in the frontcourt where LaGarde is still developing at center after three years at forward. Fortunately for Smith, the team's dominant play has resulted in an average winning margin of 17 points and lots of court time for the bench.

Against Clemson last week the reserves played the Tigers even over the game's last six minutes. Smith was not around to enjoy it, however, having been banished with three technical fouls in the first half. He accepted his punishment with equanimity, later recalling that his only other ejection had occurred five years ago, against Clemson also, "the last time we went to the final four."

There are a few other good omens. It was exactly 20 years ago that North Carolina last won the NCAA title and 25 years ago that a substitute guard with a nasal twang named Dean Smith played for (or rather sat and watched) national champion Kansas.

But history, as Smith would like very much to say right now, never won anybody anything. Aggressive defense is more important and the Tar Heels have that, too. They play it as if every player had an extra arm to reach and swipe at opponents.

With all this, the team could provide Smith that "one" thing he has never had. But even if it does, Ford, at least, will not be completely happy. "Knowing we can't be undefeated makes me disappointed," he says. So long as the Tar Heels win their last game, the little guard can probably live with it.